North Carolina’s children arenot just growing up — but out,and in epidemic proportions. So say figures from the NorthCarolina Healthy WeightInitiative, guided by a 100-member task force that includesDr. Wilda Wade, nutrition specialist with The CooperativeExtension Program.

Wade says that the surge in overweight children is part of a national trend, which inNorth Carolina means that oneof every four teenagers, one infive elementary-aged children,and even one-fifth of allpreschoolers, is overweight.

Even more disturbing isthat overweight children havegreater chances of becomingoverweight adults contributingto the already escalating incidences of hypertension and diabetes. Those diseasesalready affect minorities at a disproportionately high rate.

Wade, though, is helpingcommunities fight back through

the nutrition-education program,Project Eat Right Add to Life.Through her outreach Wadehelps teachers, cafeteria workers,Cooperative Extension agentsand others develop better teaching skills to help childreneat healthy.

“We have to raise theawareness and the importance of nutrition and get the messageto parents and to children early,’’Wade says.

No one realizes the value of school nutrition better thanJanie Roberts, a RockinghamCounty school cafeteria manag-er. She learned new strategies topromote better nutrition duringa Project Eat Right workshopheld in June at A&T.

At Stoneville Elementary,Roberts holds tasting parties —partly funded by Project EatRight — to introduce children tonew menu items such as freshbroccoli with low-fat and regularranch dip, vegetarian ravioli, andshortcake with peaches.

Although some of those foodshave sugar and fat, the cafeteriachoices are designed so that nomore than 30 percent of a child’stotal lunch calories is derivedfrom fat.

“We do try to give themdifferent choices of food to seewhether they like it, and how itworks out,’’ says Roberts, whocould recently be found eatinglunch amid a table of third-gradestudents.

The Stoneville cafeteria is a bright place, with fresh-cutflowers from a staff member’sgarden, decorated bulletinboards, and food arranged colorfully and in an appetizingmanner – all ingredients thathelp stimulate children’sappetites.

Project Eat Right also gives a stipend to teachers tohelp them incorporate actualfood into their academic lessons:teaching math to kindergartenstudents by letting them count — and then eat — applesand oranges, for example.

The Healthy WeightInitiative’s statistics on child-hood obesity are measured from 1995 to 2000, and are based on data from public health departments and someschool-based health centers.Lunch programs and otherschool-based activities play a key role in helping reduce thenumbers of overweight children, Wade says.

She says that: “Focusing on these kids that are in school is a very important place to start.’’

North Carolina A&T State University

School of Agriculture and

Environmental Sciences

Newsletter

October 2003 • Vol. III, No.4Preparing. Finding. Implementing solutions.

onthemoveChildhood obesity prevention is part of Project Eat Right

onthemove

• Landscape Architecture

students hit jackpot

• 2+2 = Degree in

Agricultural Education

inside

Dr. T’s Moment

This year, the faculty, staff andstudents in SAES will join therest of the campus and read orreread The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois. This book, celebrating its 50th anniversary,is the University’s first “text incommunity” edition.

As you know The Souls ofBlack Folk is an American classic.In this work, DuBois proposesthat the “color line” is the problem of the 20th century. Is the 21st century any different?His concept of life beyond theveil of race and the resulting“double consciousness” hasbecome a touchstone for thinking about race in America.

But Souls is not only a bookfor African Americans and whitesin America, but for people whoare negatively stereotyped bytheir outer appearance or accentrather than by their skills anddeeds. In addition to race, Soulsoffers assessments of obstaclesto progress, the role of educa-tion, the role of religion, the economic system, and manyother interesting themes that are still relevant today.

In Souls, DuBois successfullycaptures the essence of an SAESscholar: intellectual acumen coupled with independent and strategic thinking, and a willingness to address relevantand difficult problems and issues.I ask all “on the move” readers to join us in reading this book,which is available online at:http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/toc/modeng/public/DubSoul.html.

Let the conversations begin.

— Dr. Alton ThompsonDean, SAES

Stoneville Elementary cafeteria manager Janie Roberts and

cafeteria worker JoAnn Klinger (r) ready fresh fruit for students.

on the move 10/14/03 4:16 PM Page 1

An idea to enter a senior project into the ImaginationsUniversity Design Competitionbegan on a whim but turned into a win for four seniors in the landscape architecture program last spring.

None of them seriouslybelieved they would place in the national competition, sponsored by Walt DisneyImagineering — the design subsidiary of the Walt DisneyCompany. But not only did they capture second place fortheir hypothetical theme park,“Mirijato Cultural Gardens,”three of them also landed paidinternships with the company.

Perry Howard, coordinator of the landscape architectureprogram, is accustomed to students’ senses of humor, so he shrugged it off when wordstarted trickling in that Disneywas interested.

“I thought it was a joke,” he said.

Michael Feiock, Jameka Kelly,Toney Mooney and RichardWagner got the last laugh.Disney representatives spentseveral days at A&T lookingover their work in the spring.Then the four were flown to

Anaheim for a week at WaltDisney World, where they underwent more scrutiny.

“We were really under themicroscope,” Wagner said.

For their winning project, the seniors applied the real-lifetopography and physical characteristics of the UniversityFarm to the fictional park, taking into account drainage,soils, and other environmentalissues in planning for vehiculartraffic, placement of roller coaster rides and other attrac-tions. Disney appreciated the

artistry and quality of theirwork, and was also struck by the exotic name, “MirijatoCultural Gardens,” which camefrom combining one syllablefrom each of their names.

In addition to placing second, each received $1,500 and the opportunity to apply for internships. Mooney andWagner complete their intern-ships this month, while Kellyplans to begin her internship in January. Feiock declinedapplying because of other commitments.

Wagner was assigned to WaltDisney World in Orlando,where he learned about concreteand hard-scaping and reviewed construction documents, among other duties. “What I learned in the classroom hasreally carried over,” Wagner said. “Practically everythingthere is exactly the way welearned it at A&T.”

Mooney agreed that the A&T curriculum prepared him for the real world. Hisinternship was spent at WaltDisney Imagineering inAnaheim, where he createdCAD drawings for attractions at Tokyo Disney.

“Perry and John Robinson(professor of landscape architecture) have really, reallyhigh expectations. They’ve done a good job preparing me for that,” he said.

Mooney isn’t certain theinternship will immediatelytranslate into a job, because, he said, the company rarely hiresrecent college grads. Either way,the experience will proveextremely valuable, he added,repeating the familiar refrain of college students everywhere:“It looks great on the resume.”

on the move

Kathy Rogers (l) a senior show producer and Tim Grubbs (r),

a senior landscape designer review plans for new attractions

at Disney’s Animal Kingdom with “Imagineering” intern and

SAES alumni Toney Mooney.

Senior project brings rewards for landscape architecture students

on the move 10/14/03 4:16 PM Page 2

Preparing. Finding. Implementing solutions.

Mrs. Larree S. Cherry of Aulander, NC,

was recently elected chairman of

the Strategic Planning Council for

the Cooperative Extension Program

at A&T. A retired educator, Cherry

has been an active volunteer in her

community for years, and also has

served on local, state and national

Extension advisory councils.

The revised Strategic Planning

Council has been meeting since

February to advise Cooperative

Extension on issues affecting members’

communities. The group’s next meeting

is scheduled for Dec. 4-5 in Boone.

Dr. Osei-Agyeman Yeboah has joined

the Department of Agribuisiness,

Applied Economics and Agriscience

Education as an assistant professor

for international trade, environmental

and national resource economics.

Dr. Yeboah comes to the SAES from

Auburn University, where he was a

visiting scholar in environmental and

natural resource economics. Before his

stay at Auburn, Yeboah was a graduate

research assistant and a post-doctoral

research fellow at the University of

Nebraska. His research specialties

include the economics of soil and

water quality, economic biodiversity,

wetland evaluation and spatial

econometrics.

Dr. Claudette Smith, family resource

management specialist with the

Cooperative Extension Program at

North Carolina A&T, is among a select

group of Extension professionals from

across the U.S. recently selected for

internships with the National Extension

Leadership Development (NELD)

program. Smith and other NELD

interns will participate in four extensive

leadership seminars in the next

16 months.

faculty & staff notes

The SAES came up with its own version of a

“No Child Left Behind Act” in mid August.

After hearing about thousands of Pillowtex

workers left jobless by plant closures, more

than 150 members of the SAES faculty and

staff pitched in to purchase school supplies

for children of Rockingham County Pillowtex

families. Benjamin Forbes and Angelia

Johnson-Williamson, coordinators of the

effort, presented the cash and supplies to

the Eden Chamber of Commerce on Aug. 15.

The chamber then distributed the donations

to families affected by the plant closings.

New Online Education Program Launches

A new online program in agricultural education created by SAES for community college graduates has alreadyenrolled seven new students this fall, but faculty here and in community colleges say that the fledgling program is certain to grow.

“It’s just a wonderful opportunity for people who work 40, 50, 60 hours aweek to get a four-year degree. For some-body who wants to pull themselves up bytheir bootstraps, this is the way to go,” said Dr. Bruce Williams, president of the North Carolina Community CollegesHorticulture Instructors Association.

The program, “2 + 2 Online Studies in Agricultural Education,” is for graduateswho hold associate’s degrees in a landscape,turf grass, or a horticultural discipline, and want to get a four-year degree to teach agriculture in North Carolinaschools. Dr. Antoine Alston, coordinatorof the Agriscience Education Program, developed the online courses and workedwith 10 North Carolina community colleges to establish articulation agreements.

Alston foresees the program fillingmultiple needs: creating new opportunitiesfor community college graduates; helpingease the statewide teacher shortage; andexpanding on the land-grant universitymission and legacy.

“The first graduates of A&Twere agricultural educationmajors, so one of the best thingswe can do is to reach out to com-munity colleges, which have apool of students who have thehorticultural skills, but lack thepedagogical skills,” he said.

In addition to educationcourses, the curriculum includes a 15-weekstudent teaching requirement, as well asseveral general education requirements.The laboratory portion of the sciencecourses will be presented for two-weekstints on the A&T campus during summers.

The 10 community colleges partner-ing with the 2 + 2 Program are Brunswick,Caldwell, Catawba, Forsyth, Johnston,Lenoir, Mayland, Sampson, Sandhills, and Surry.

The program follows a statewideeffort to align community college and university curricula. Alston began developing articulation agreements withcommunity colleges in 2002. Soon after, he received a $115,000 grant from theUNC system to develop online studies for community college graduates, and the 2 + 2 program was born. Alston has publicized the program with abrochure and an attractive Web site at www.ag.ncat.edu/2plus2. More information about 2 + 2 is available by calling Alston at (336) 334-7711.

Antoine Alston

on the move 10/14/03 4:16 PM Page 3

________________ PRSRT STD________________

US Postage PAID________________ PERMIT NO. G-268 ________________

Greensboro, NC________________

on the moveNorth Carolina A&T State University School ofAgriculture and Environmental Sciences NewsletterProduced by the Agricultural Communications Unit

Dr. James C. Renick, ChancellorDr. Alton Thompson, Dean, School of

Agriculture and Enivronmental SciencesDr. M. Ray McKinnie, Associate Dean,

Administrator Cooperative Extension ProgramDr. Carolyn Turner, Associate Dean,

Agricultural Research StationDr. Donald McDowell, Associate Dean,

Academic Programs

North Carolina A&T State University is committed toequality of educational opportunity and does not dis-criminate against applicants, students, or employeesbased on race, color, national origin, religion, gender,age, or disability. Moreover, North Carolina A&T StateUniversity is open to all people of all races and activelyseeks to promote racial integration by recruiting andenrolling a large number of white students. Send change of address and correspondence to:

on the move Newsletter EditorAgricultural Research Program CH Moore Agricultural Research StationGreensboro, NC 27411

7,000 copies of this public document were printed on recycled paper at a cost of $1,059.00 or $0.15 per copy.

Distributed in futherance of the acts of Congress ofMay 8 and June 30, 1914. Employment and programopportunities are open to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. North Carolina A&T State University, North CarolinaUniversity, US Department of Agriculture and localgovernments cooperating.

flip sideflip side www.ag.ncat.eduwww.ag.ncat.eduGathered around Dr. Willie Willis

(second from right) are students in his

advanced commercial poultry class.

From left to right: Kandi Fuller,

Sean Miller and Alicia McCormick.

Willis is demonstrating how to identify

the gender of day-old chicks, using

“feather sexing.” Identifying the gender

of chicks as early as possible — so the

faster-growing males can be separated

from their slower growing sisters —

is an important facet of broiler

chicken production.

Over $3 million has been earmarked —

$1.8 million from the Higher Education

bonds, passed two years ago; the

remainder from a combination of other

sources for improvements at the A&T

State University Farm. Improvements

include a new poultry unit, scheduled

for completion in the summer of 2004.

on the move 10/14/03 4:16 PM Page 4